I posted about my sustained (and severe) atrial fibrillation episode and ending up in the ER overnight several days ago so I won't go into a lot of detail here other than to say that it scared me to death and I have not touched a drop of alcohol since (it's been 4-5 days now). Atrial fibrillation can cause a stroke if the blood "pools" in the heart too long after an a-fib episode and cause clots.

It's not that I don't want to drink...it's just that I could'nt even if I wanted to. This really sucks because I feel like I am being deprived of my "free will" to drink as I see fit and yet I don't dare even touch a drop of the stuff. The other day I worked my tail off outside in the Florida heat and got a LOT done and when I came back inside, I wanted an icey-cold beer sooooo bad to cool me off and to relax me but I just could'nt risk it after what happened to me the other day.

Sure, the "cravings" have already subsided but it's that crazy feeling you get in your head where it feels like your brain is re-adjusting to life without alcohol. You go through this foggy-headed, zoned-out kind of feeling and get weird pressure in your head along with all kinds of panic attacks and some very frightening (and surreal) sensations. Like last night I was laying in bed and suddenly it felt like one half of my body was'nt even there or something.

Anyone else ever get atrial fibrillation from alcohol?. How bad was it?. Did you end up in the ER?. Do my withdrawl symptoms sound like the usual ones?. I've also been very depressed, fits of irritabilty, sweats, anxiety, forgetfullness, etc.

My father experienced mild fibrillation one night after he drank a lot at a party in Hawaii, when he was about 60. He went to the E.R. He was diagnosed with a mild form of fibrillation - I am not sure exactly what kind.

Apparently it was not so much the alcohol that caused the fibrillation but the day after "hangover" which is a mild withdrawal. I guess this withdrawal, however slight, is bad for people whose hearts have a tendency towards fibrillation.

He never drank alcoholically, just occasionally. He found that he could no longer drink alcohol with congeners in it, like scotch and whiskey, but he continued to drink every now and then until he died when he was 88, and it was from the side effects of cancer nothing to do with heart disease.

How interesting that you say the fibrillation actually occurred during the withdrawal phase rather than from the act of drinking because this is exactly when my a-fib occurred. I had drank maybe 7-8 beers the previous evening and when I woke up the next morning (with a mild hangover) I had just lit up my second cigarette when it hit me.

In fact, I stopped drinking for about 5 days but last night I had 9 beers and this morning I took an 81mg aspirin and an Atenolol to (hopefully) prevent or at least reduce any damage caused by an a-fib. Still, it's some scary stuff when it happens.

Lonely-
Please be careful drinking that many beers after having such a bad reaction the following day. I know the a-fib really scared you, but what if it happens again and your heart just isn't strong enough to recover properly?

I'm not judging you, but am really concerned because a-fib, or any other irregular heart rhythm is a serious thing. Please do be careful.

Thank you and good advice!. You are so right about the need to be very careful because you never when one of your a-fibs might be the "big one" or (gulp!) your last one. I don't plan on drinking again any time soon because this morning I once again had this kind of funny feeling come over me like I might have another one of these episodes and so I guess I'm just not cut out for drinking anymore. I'll just have to accept that it's not worth he risk and find some other way to "relax and unwind" besides drinking alcohol. Again, thank's very much for the reply.

Hi lonely,
How are you doing?
I don't know if it's the same thing, but my ex had irregular heart things happen. He was a very heavy drinker.Very rapid heartbeat and sweats and pains. It's a very scary thing.
Im sorry you had to go through that but the best thing you can do for yourself and those around you is try to take this as a lesson learned about how valueable your health and your life is.

Thank's for all the kind replies. Yes, it can be very scary. I thought I was having a heart attack and spent all day and all night in the ER. It was not fun but I was treated very well by the ER staff. I also realize that I should not have consumed those 9 beers 5 days after I had the first a-fib but the mind tends to play tricks on you and fool you into thinking that somehow you'll be ok if you continue drinking. Alcohol is a really good liar. I am happy to say that I have not touched a drop today because this morning, I was feeling kind of funny like I might go into a-fib again (but I never did thank God). Well, I can't think of much else to say except that I am glad to get some input on this and really appreciate knowing that I am not the only one (not that I would wish a-fibs on anyone).

at the very least you should quit smoking. all those chemicals reek havoc on your vessels.

Yes, very true. My step-grandfather drank like a fish every day and smoked 3-4 packs of non-filter Chesterfields all of his adult life and ended up dying of an aortic anuerism and kidney failure. My dad told me that the doctor said that the years of drinking and smoking had caused his arteries to become hardened until they finally just gave out. Well, I'm smoking less than I was and using nicotine gum but eventually I do want to quit altogether.

Old timer here but about 2 years ago I had a case of AF that landed me in the hospital for a weeks stay. And they did have to use the paddles on me to shock me back into rhythm (not fun). As I donít drink much or hardly at all I knew the AF was not brought on by the alcohol but the doctors did say that many times they have patients with AF as a result of alcohol. Mine was most likely brought on as a result of forgetting to take my blood pressure meds for about 3 days. Actually I purposely chose to not take the meds as I was traveling by car a great distance and the meds cause me to have to make bathroom breaks (ha) every 2 hours or less which is a real pain and when I get in a car I like to drive and not stopÖÖÖÖÖ.. lessoned learned on that one. When they say itís not good to abruptly stop taking blood pressure meds Iím a living example of what can happen. Other results of abruptly stopping the taking of blood pressure meds are far worse in nature so I guess I should be thankful all I had was AF. But as you said LT being a pin cushion for a week was less then fun and rebooting the heart via shock was totally not fun.

Iíd have to say moderation is always the best policy but most of us here are here because moderation is a problem. Probably cessation of smoking would be better then moderation but I think thatís already been covered by the many here so Iíll let that one lie.

That was a very interesting story and got me thinking. I am reading more and more stories lately about the connection between alcohol, high BP and AF and a lot of this seems to be tied into failure to take meds for one's high BP on a regular basis. As further evidence of a "link" to this, I have high BP myself and just like you, I had missed taking my Atenolol (a beta blocker) for 2-3 days when I drank and had the AF (incidentally, AF runs in my family). Like you say (and I am believing this more and more) it is VERY important that even if a person "feels good", they should always remember to take their high BP meds every day to avoid this sort of thing. If a person drinks, it is even more important. Of course, I am not a doctor and one should always seek advice from their doctor before starting or stopping any medication or drinking alcohol.

PS: I hope you won't mind if I touch on what might be a sensitive issue for you but I am curious as to what those defib paddles feel like?. I was always told that they put you under first so you won't feel any pain. Does it really make your entire body jump off the table like you see on TV? (yikes!) and do you actually feel the shock?.

For me Iím almost sure it was the abrupt discontinuance of taking my blood pressure meds (or maybe it was the Red Sox taking 4 straight from my beloved Yankees in the playoffs back then? NAWWWWWWWWWWW) It was the meds ha

You can ask anything you want, I think you will find Iíll share almost anything, probably too muchÖÖ.

You are correct with the shock you back into rhythm, they put you semi under, at least so you forget what happened. It is unpleased because just prior to the shock they numb your throat with a spray and slide an instrument down your throat so they can monitor your heart to make sure you havenít formed any clots. The sudden shock back into rhythm could dislodge a clot and of course that would not be good for the patient. Ha Well Iíll tell you when they numbed my throat (they were suppose to time putting me under so I wouldnít feel the throat numbing) I was still awake and I started panicking because I couldnít or it felt I couldnít swallow and I thought I was choking. That was so unpleasant to say the least. I can tell you after the shock that I felt so drained, it really took it out of me for a few days. Not sure why, but it just zapped me.

Oh well that was over two years ago and nothing since although I get flutters all the time, or at least Iím so much more aware of them these day, and when I get a flutter I think Iím going back into a-fib. I where a heart monitor for 24 hrs every 6 months to record my heart rate and flutters, skips and so forth. Iím always well under the normal daily occurrence for any of these so the cardiologist is quite please with my heart and program.